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The Order (Silent Hill)
The Order, also known as "The Organization", is the local, religious organization in the American ghost town of Silent Hill that has appeared as the major antagonistic faction throughout most of the Silent Hill videogame series. They are a religiously crooked doomsday cult residing within the town of Silent Hill and have expanded into other towns across the region, such as Shepherd's Glen. The Order is a primary source of struggle for most of the Silent Hill games, and are responsible for the many dilemmas that the protagonists of the series face. The cult often resorts to murder, kidnapping, torture, and other acts of violence to meet its needs, though not all of their members are insane or violent. The Order is prevalent in all of the games, and are deeply rooted in Silent Hill's history and culture. They are responsible for Alessa Gillespie's immolation and rise to power, as well as the attempts to contain it. Pyramid Head takes the form of an iconic figure of judgment and punishment of the Order's mythos, Valtiel. The creature itself even makes an appearance to follow Heather Mason and the God sleeping in her womb. They also ran the Wish House Orphanage, and were responsible for Walter Sullivan's descent into madness. Although it has 3 different sects, they all have the goal of bringing God into the world. After the events of the first game, it underwent a period of inactivity until it was revived with financial aid of a young priest of the Order named Father Vincent. After the events of Silent Hill: Homecoming and the demise of the presumed final sect within the town of Shepherd's Glen, the Order was all destroyed. The Order themselves follows a philosophy of moral nihilism; they do not believe in "good" and "evil", only chaos and order, and feel this somehow justifies their wicked ways. The Order's official seal is known as the Halo of the Sun, and is often present in the presence of cult members, particularly while conducting rituals. The Order takes inspiration and draws elements from other religions, such as the origins of Christianity, Japanese folklore, Aztec rituals, and Native American beliefs. History It is important to note that the Order itself is not the same as the religion of the land's original Native American inhabititants before the settlers arrived. The roots of this religious organization originallly date back as far as the 17th century, with the burning of Jennifer Carroll. However, back then, they were not formally known as the Order. When Silent Hill became a tourist location around the 1900s, the Order was formed at the same time, and were despised by most of the local citizens, thus their union was carried out in secret. With time, the cult infiltrated the public institutions of the town, gradually gaining more influence and power. After the events of Silent Hill in 1983, the cult was left in shambles and went through a period of inactivity. Father Vincent invested in the cult and revived it. After the events of Silent Hill 3 in 2000, it can be speculated that all but one sect were eliminated. After the events of Homecoming in 2007, the presumed final sect in Shepherd's Glen was destroyed, leading to the death of the cult. Beliefs The Order worships the entities of the Otherworld of Silent Hill, which they believe house their faith's incarnation of God, which is often depicted as a woman; it has been stated that this belief lies the foundation for the whole cult. Their mythos has a wide variety of angels and saints, including: *Valtiel *Metatron *Lobsel Vith *Xuchilbara The Order's main goal, as many of its members state, is to usher in the apocalypse and deliver the faithful to paradise. This paradise means many different things to different members, but the goals remain the same, and this is brought about in ways that vary from sect to sect. Some try to actively aid it while others simply prepare for the inevitable. As stated on several occasions, the Order does not believe in terms of "good" or "evil", only "chaos" and "order". Their ways are cruel and brutal, to ensure order remains in place. To ensure loyalty and discipline, many children under the Order's care are cruelly treated and disciplined harshly in some sects. Human life is inconsequential to them, as they are more than willing to sacrifice and kill to appease God. The Order's occult and seemingly magical abilities are further unexplained, as many of their rituals produce arcane effects that defy all logic. Their tie to the forces of the Otherworld is also quite strong, as some members of the cult can even go so far as to manipulate it to a degree. System of Beliefs 1. Commitment All members of the Order must have fully committed themselves to this purpose in their beliefs, their activities and their lives. 2. Membership Membership within the Order is extended to all that seek the Old Ways. Levels of Membership: :*'Mother Circle' The Mother is considered the founding group of the Order. :*'Daughter Circle' Any Second Generation group hived off of The Mother. :*'Servant Circle' Any Third Generation group stemming from The Mother. 3. The High Council The High Council is set in place as a tool for all within the Order to make use of. The purpose of the High Council shall be to aid in the process of group formation as needed, act as governing body in matters pertaining to the Order as a whole, and to be a judge/jury if asked to settle disputes. 4. Grievances and Discipline Procedures All decisions made by the High Council are binding. Presenting your case before the Council implies your acceptance of their decision. Those seeking mediation must contact the Scribe. *The High Council shall be called in to preside over disputes within a group to hear complaints and accusation of inappropriate acts, heresy, abuse of power by leaders, any other complaints that are deemed worthy to preserve the public image or internal integrity of the Order. *The nature of the disciplinary action shall be decided at the sole discretion of The High Council. These actions shall contain, but not be limited to, assignment of manual labor, persecution of an individual member, execution or torture, and the banishment of a group. *If an individual member wishes to leave the Order, he or she is required to bring his or her request to the High Council. Sects The Order is divided into several sects. Sect of the Holy Woman This sect, the Holy Woman Sect or the Sect of the Holy Woman, is centered around a priestess named Dahlia Gillespie. This sect believed that God would return to Earth one day and await her coming faithfully. However, Dahlia Gillespie had attempted to hasten God's rebirth by using an immolation ritual which meant her daughter, Alessa, would be used as a sacrifice. Members of this sect include Dahlia Gillespie, Claudia Wolf, Vincent Smith and Leonard Wolf. They believe that once God has come, She will cause the apocalypse and usher the faithful to paradise. Not all their members are active in this, however, such as Vincent. Claudia believes that a God born from pain and hatred would thereby be more sympathetic. Sect of the Holy Mother Members of the Holy Mother Sect or Sect of the Holy Mother (not to be confused with Alessa Gillespie, known as the Mother of God), used their self-run Wish House to raise a conjurer. They respected the Mother Stone as something sacred, and called the God "Holy Mother". This sect believed that the Holy Mother would be descended by a conjurer performing a ritual to descend the God into a sacred object. Members of this sect include Toby Archbolt. They are slightly more pacifistic than the Sect of the Holy Woman, though their cruelty is still directly shown by their treatment of the orphans in their care, including a younger Walter Sullivan. They also held a ritual for the resurrection of the dead, which James Sunderland may find in Silent Hill 2. Sect of Valtiel This sect, the Sect of Valtiel or the Valtiel Sect, is centered around the priest Jimmy Stone. This sect believed Valtiel to be the closest to God, and worshiped him as a divine executioner. Members of the Valtiel sect would don red pointed hoods and act like executioners in honor of Valtiel. Members of this sect include Jimmy Stone and George Rosten. Sect of Shepherd's Glen An unnamed sect of the Order residing in Shepherd's Glen, they are a splinter group, having broken away from the core of the Order to live more peaceful, stable lives. Though separate from the Order, many of the core beliefs are still upheld, including faith in their God and a desire for discipline. The Founding Families that made up this sect entered into a pact with their God; if one child from each of the four families was sacrificed every 50 years, Shepherd's Glen would be spared from the effects of the Otherworld. The families are: The Shepherds, the Holloways, the Bartletts, and the Fitches. With Adam Shepherd's failure to fulfill his portion of the Pact, the agreement was broken, and Shepherd's Glen was left to the ravages of the Otherworld. Members include Curtis Ackers, Adam Shepherd, Sam Bartlett, Martin Fitch and Margaret Holloway. Demise of The Order The original, true form of the Order has ceased to exist due to several events. The deaths of Sister Claudia and Father Vincent in Silent Hill 3 and the exposure of the Order by private investigator Douglas Cartland shortly thereafter ended the Holy Woman Sect in 1997. The Holy Mother and Valtiel Sects were effectively destroyed by Walter Sullivan as part of his three-fold killing spree. ''Silent Hill'' Films The Silent Hill film features a similar, yet different, fanatical religious cult called the Brethen as well, however, the director Christophe Gans has stated they are two separate cults. He implies that Jennifer Carroll was burned alive by the movie's cult, tying the Order to the movie cult and says they have "opposite" beliefs. The sequel to the first film, Silent Hill: Revelation, which features the Order, contradicts Christophe Gans' statements by saying the Order and the first film's cult are actually one and the same. As noted, the Order is a rival cult of the Brethren in the first film. Like in the Silent Hill games, they are seen as cloaked figures dressed in dark belted clothing. It is revealed in the movie that the Brethren is in league with the Order who in the film are renamed The Order of Valtiel and has been aiding them in waiting a demon child whom the Order believed would bring forth the coming of their God and cleanse the mortal world of sin. In the end, they were destroyed after their leader Claudia Wolf was transformed into a demonic manifestation of her cultic devotion and died at the hands of Pyramid Head. In the comics In contrast to the Order's presentation in the game series, the Order of the Silent Hill comics universe is not a central element to the plot. Presented as a clandestine group of religious human individuals, the Order's goal is to facilitate the birth of the entity Samael. In addition to being servants of Samael, the Order is also said to be able to control the monsters of Silent Hill. Whately appears to serve as the intermediary between the otherworldly Samael and members of the Order. Though their connection is unclear, Christabella LaRoache appears to have entered into some kind of agreement with the Order, but is said to be guilty of betrayals against the group by trying to obtain the powers of Samael for herself. Members *Adam Sheperd - the sheriff of Shepherd's Glen and member of the Sheperd's Glen Sect of the Order. *Claudia Wolf - a high priestess of the Holy Woman Sect and new leader of the Order. *Curtis Ackers - a local handyman in Sheperd's Glen and right-hand follower of Judge Holloway. *Dahlia Gillespie - the main leader of the Order and high priestess of its two religious divisions, the Holy Woman Sect and the Holy Mother Sect. *George Rosten - a priest of the Valtiel Sect, Jimmy Stone's right-hand man and mentor of Walter Sullivan. *Jennifer Carroll - one of the founding members of the Order in the 17th century who was accused of witchcraft and burned at the stake by the puritanical citizens of Silent Hill. *Jimmy Stone - a high priest of the Valtiel Sect and George Rosten's mentor. *Leonard Wolf - Claudia's father and a member of the Order. *Lillian Sheperd - Wife of Adam Shepherd. She's married into the family. *Missionary - an unnamed fanatic member of the Order and a follower of Claudia Wolf. *Judge Margaret Holloway - the famous judge in Sheperd's Glen and a prominent member of the Order. *Martin Fitch - the chief doctor of Shepherd's Glen and a direct descendant of one of the town's founders who were former members of the Order themselves. *Dr. Michael Kaufmann - a crooked doctor and an associate of the Order. *Order Soldiers - various members in miner suits acting as the foot soldiers of the Order. *Reverend Stone - one of the celebrated clerics of the Order cult in the history of Silent Hill. *Mayor Sam Barlett - the mayor of Shepherd's Glen and a direct descendant of one of the town's founders who were former members of the Order themselves. *Scrapers - demonic monsters who were transmutated human members of the Order. *Father Vincent - a high priest of the Holy Woman Sect within the Order who is at odds with fellow revered cult member Claudia Wolf. *Walter Sullivan - a serial killer who was once brainwashed by Dahlia Gillespie to kill in the name of God. Gallery Masked Order Clerics.jpg|The members of The Order wears demonic masks in the ending scene of Silent Hill: Origins. Masked Order Zealots.jpg|The robed Order members wears 2-faced masks in a leaked scene of the ending of Silent Hill: Origins. The Order (Silent Hill Revelation).jpg|The Order as seen in a flashback sequence in Silent Hill: Revelation. The Order of Valtiel's Crest.jpg|The Halo of the Sun reappearing as the symbol of the Order of Valtiel (The Order) in Silent Hill: Revelation. Spirits of The Order.jpg|The living spirits of the Order appeared as they stare at Heather Mason in Silent Hill: Revelation. Spirits of the Order of Valtiel.jpg|The Order as seen astral-projecting their spirits in Silent Hill: Revelation. Claudia Wolf & the Order of Valtiel.jpg|Claudia Wolf is the leader of the Order of Valtiel (The Order). Crucified Order Member.jpg|A crucified member of the Order found outside Brookhaven Asylum. The Order of Valtiel in the Sanctuary.jpg|Members of the Order looked down at Heather Mason from a balcony in the Sanctuary. The Order in the Sanctuary.jpg|All the members of the Brethren and their parent group, the Order, present within the Sanctuary. The Brethren & The Order Costumes.jpg|The costumes of both the Order Soldiers and the robed Order members on the set of Silent Hill: Revelation. Trivia *When Harry Mason first encounters Dahlia Gillespie in the Balkan Church, she states that she has been expecting him, as it was "foretold by Gyromancy.". This suggests that she, and likely, the other members of the Order, engage in the practice of gyromancy. As the Halo of the Sun, the cult's very own symbol, is a circle whose circumference contains symbols, it is likely that it was the circle particularly used in the same practice. *The Order were mentioned as the creators of the Book of Memories in the Silent Hill spin-off videogame Silent Hill: Book of Memories. *The Order within Silent Hill is believed to represent the Molly Maguires (also called the "Mollies"), a secret society consisting of Irish and Irish-American coal miners, that used to coincide within the town of Centralia, Pennsyvania. *The Order's alias is a name of a massive clandestine organization from the 2012 horror film The Cabin in the Woods. 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